Opening Rose
by Gaelcelt
Summary: Steve/Bucky slash. Songfiction. When the Avengers confront the Winter Soldier, he recognizes Steve. The song is "Rosa Che Stai Nascendo" by Alessandro Safina. Inspired by "Reunion" by Christy C.


These characters are not mine.

Steve/Bucky slash. Songfiction. When the Avengers confront the Winter Soldier, he recognizes Steve, who in turn recognizes the Winter Soldier. The song "Rosa Che Stai Nascendo" by Alessandro Safina is the perfect setting for this.

Opening Rose

The figure was obscured by dust, but the Avengers knew that it was the Winter Soldier. They had cornered him in an alley.

"Do you surrender?" Steve demanded, every nerve in his being tense as he prepared himself for what resistance would come.

Natasha gaped, asking the Winter Soldier something in Russian. He answered in Russian, but there was something so familiar about him. Steve sensed that the assassin was gaping at him, although he could not see his face clearly.

"Captain America…!" the Winter Soldier exclaimed, his accent had a slight but undeniable Brooklyn twang, "Steve… my god-! Is it really you?!" he gasped as he removed his mask.

It was Steve's turn to gasp, "Bucky-?!"

_Il cuore mio si ferma**My heart stops beating**  
Mi dice che sei tu**Telling me it's you**_

They were silent as they gaped at each other. Neither moved as the Avengers in turn stared at them in confusion.

"Captain?" Thor wore an inquisitive look while Bruce, returned to human form, looked to Clint for an answer. Clint just returned his bewildered expression while Tony still held his guard, unsure of what would happen.

Breaking their stunned silence, Bucky and Steve were instantly in each other's arms, their masks discarded, hugging and kissing each other like they were afraid that it was a dream. The others around them faded from their memory and their sight.

Steve had relived that horrible day on the train over and over before he crashed Schmidt's airship and after he had been revived in 2011. He had been desperate to dull the pain that gripped his heart, but no amount of alcohol would help. He did all that he could to stifle the memory and push forward, still very much a boy of his time. But now he felt his heart singing; Bucky was alive, he was there. He wept for pure joy as he held Bucky, indifferent to anyone but the man he loved.

_Quante vie camminai**How many roads I travelled**  
Quanti addii per te**How many times I said goodbye**_

"You're alive-!" Steve sobbed as he stroked Bucky's hair. Bucky clutched him with equal urgency, "The Russians- they've held me for so long…! Oh god, I'm shaking…!"

Steve's ungloved hands savored the silk of Bucky's hair, the muscled back under his uniform, the solid proof that he was real, "My Bucky-!"

_In un momento l'infinito sei**At once you're infinity**  
Rosa che stai nascendo**A rose that's opening**  
Davanti agli occhi miei**Right before my eyes**_

"Your arm-!" Steve looked gingerly at Bucky's left arm, which was now entirely metal, "What happened to you?"

"I woke up in some detention center and it was there; I remember the fall from the train now…" he winced at the memory of the terrifying descent, the panic on Steve's face, "I hit my head on something and blacked out and I must have lost it around then…"

"Oh dearheart, dearheart-!" Steve enveloped him in his powerful arms, burying his face in the curve of Bucky's neck, sobbing, "You poor darling…! And I can't even bear to think of what the Soviets did to you!"

"Shhh…it's all right, babe-!" Bucky tried to reassure him, "I'm here now, aren't I?"

"But I still see you falling…! I still see you in Zola's lab… and now this…!" he drew a shaking breath, "Anything that happens now, I'm not going to lose you again-! I'm not going to let anyone hurt you again…!"

_Ti salverò dal tempo**I will protect you against the time**  
Dal freddo che verrà**And the cold that will come**  
Sempre ora e per sempre**Now and forever**  
Con te qui**Here with you**_

"I hardly recognize the city, Steve," Bucky murmured, "I remember what Zola did to me… I don't know what will happen next, since I have been under the Russians for so long… I don't know how I'll be in trying to readjust to life here…"  
"I know that this won't be easy," Steve replied, "But I don't care. I've woken up screaming after dreaming about the train… it hurts like hell that this happened to you-! As long as I know that you're with me again, I don't care."

_Mi ferirò tra le spine per te**In order to keep you with me**  
Per tenerti con me**Thorns may wound me**_

Stringimi, amami**Hold me, love me**  
Io non ho che te**You are all I have**

Bucky raised his eyes to face Steve, his face flushed and eyelashes wet. Despite the tears, Steve wore a tender smile.

"Steve…?" Bucky asked inquisitively.

Steve gazed lovingly at Bucky's tired, careworn face, his voice soft and trembling, "You're so beautiful, Bucky, as beautiful as when we first met… I've missed you more than you'll ever know…!"

_Io sto piangendo così bella sei**Your beauty makes me cry**  
Rosa che stai nascendo**A rose that's opening**  
Davanti agli occhi miei**Right before my eyes**_

Breaking a passionate kiss, Bucky buried his face against Steve's shoulder, hardly daring to believe that that Steve had accepted him, after what he had been until then.

"I've never stopped loving you, soldier, and I love you all the more now…!"

_Ti salverò dal tempo**I will protect you against the time**_  
_Dal freddo che verrà**And the cold that will come**_  
_Sempre ora e per sempre**Now and forever**_  
_Con te con te**Here with you**_


End file.
